One of the many inconveniences that doomed wearable products like Google Glass and Snap’s Spectacles was the need to charge them every night. Streaming video and data requires a lot of power, and that takes a tremendous toll on a tiny battery. But engineers at the University of Washington say they’ve found a way to …
The most common types of 3D printing involve either extruding melted plastic or using a laser to solidify tiny particles, layer by layer, to slowly build up a solid object. But researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found a way to radically change that process by 3D…
The Flintstones, a cartoon about life in the Stone Age, has just surpassed The Jetsons, a cartoon about life in the distant future, when it comes to technological innovation. Researchers have successfully trained artificial intelligence to generate new clips of the prehistoric animated series based on nothing but…
Experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease are on the verge of redefining the devastating neurodegenerative disorder. And though the changes aren’t meant to influence how the 5 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer’s are cared after by their doctors and families, they are poised to shape the future of…
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and that’s how most alarm systems are able to detect and warn of trouble. But Chinese researchers have developed a new kind of wallpaper, using ingredients found in bones and teeth, that sounds the alarm when heat and flames are detected, turning every wall in a room into a potential…
It’s understandable that you want to be as careful as possible when handling explosive material like rocket fuel—but manufacturing the volatile mixture requires even more care. So JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, helped create a safer way to mix explosive ingredients by building a working robotic version…
If the only thing more terrifying to you than a spider is a spider chasing you, you’re not going to want to watch this video of Festo’s latest creation. Using eight reconfigurable legs, the BionicWheelBot can creepily crawl along the ground, but then transform into a wheel and roll at an alarming speed. Someone find…
Serious ethical questions have loomed over a large, ongoing study overseen by the National Institutes of Health. The research, largely funded by the alcohol industry, intends to find out whether moderate drinking can be good for us. Following revelations that scientists and officials involved with the project reached…
Bad weather can make driving extremely dangerous, no matter who’s behind the wheel. But when it comes to dense fog, which makes it all but impossible for human drivers to see more than a few feet ahead of a vehicle, MIT researchers say they have developed a new imaging system that could eventually let autonomous cars…
Robotics engineers at Guangdong University of Technology’s School of Automation in China are bringing us one step—albeit a much larger step—closer to realizing Tony Stark’s fictitious Iron Man suit. Their new robot features jet-powered feet that greatly improve the bot’s balance, agility, and capabilities.
If you consider yourself a master of the yarn but have grown tired of knitting socks, sweaters, and scarves, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Textiles Lab are about to breath new life into your craft with software that can turn almost any 3D model into a knitting pattern.
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to reorganize some major offices that could potentially result in the cutting of a research program that funds work on the ways chemicals and pollutants are messing with the health of children and tribal nations. The research itself, though, would continue.
If last week’s video of Boston Dynamic’s SpotMini robo-dog opening doors all by itself had you worried, don’t be. The bot’s creators have done everything possible to ensure the public’s safety by hiring a guy to thwart the robo-dog’s escape attempts using a hockey stick. Phew! One less thing to stress over.
The first time we saw Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini robo-dog in action, it used its gripping arm to help load a dishwasher. But after getting a fancy new yellow coat a few months ago, SpotMini has apparently since learned how to open doors, enabling the robot, and its comrades, to escape a life of servitude.
President Trump and his cabinet aren’t really into solving climate change, or science for that matter. But that didn’t stop four representatives from federal agencies that oversee climate and Earth science from giving a major presentation at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting, the largest annual meeting of…
Stretch a Slinky toy too far, and eventually the metal coil will be warped so much it won’t be able to return to its original spring shape. That’s a problem also faced by the metal spring tires designed to roll across our Moon, and other planets our rovers are exploring. But NASA has created an alternative, made from…
Sony recently announced that its robotic dog Aibo is back from the dead and will hit Japan early next year. But even a $1,700 robot toy can’t compare to the amazingly fluid motions of Boston Dynamics’ new and improved SpotMini, which looks like a genuine (yet still pretty frightening) replacement for your loyal golden…
If you’re a fan of a simple oil and vinegar dressing for your salad, your days of having to shake the bottle for a few seconds to mix both ingredients could soon be over. Researchers at MIT have found a way to combine water and oil-based substances so that they stay mixed for months on end.
A while back, I woke up to find my Android phone lingering at a pattern unlock; not just to unlock my screen, but to decrypt all of my phone’s data. I was puzzled. Every other morning, I decrypted my device using a 10-digit, alphanumeric passphrase—something I perceived, accurately, as being infinitely more secure…
Google, a company that spends billions of dollars on research and development, still hasn’t found a good reason for everyone to own a pair of smart glasses. But an international team of researchers is rethinking how upgraded glasses could be useful—by turning the wearer’s nose into a remote control for other devices.
